Harrisburg Asset Mapping Report

Community Asset Mapping Report for Harrisburg in partnership with

Harrisburg Elementary School

Pollywog’s Community Asset Mapping Project The Early Learning Hub of Linn, Benton & Lincoln Counties is proud to support the families in our region with services and information about early childhood learning and development. We believe that by working together as a collective of agencies and service providers, we can increase family stability, improve kindergarten readiness, and ensure service coordination that is equitable, and culturally and linguistically competent.

A crucial component of our coordinated work is data about the families in our region and the social determinants of health, i.e. the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age, that affect their lives. Quantitative community data from reliable sources is useful for understanding the context of social determinants of health, like the population of a town or the median household income of a city. But to understand how social determinants of health factor into the daily lives of families in our region we must ask community members, and we must listen to their responses.

With this directive in mind, Pollywog and the EL Hub are conducting a regional Asset Mapping Project in 16 rural Linn/Benton/Lincoln communities. Asset Mapping is an innovative tool for community-based participatory research, and with this project we seek to engage and center the voices and experiences of families raising young children in rural communities.

Rural communities, in particular, face deep disparities in the resources that families need to raise happy and healthy children, and this inequity isn’t always related to geography. With each Asset Mapping session, we ask direct questions about families’ experiences in accessing resources and services in their community and beyond. Their answers show where families encounter gaps in needed support and will translate into data that will inform program funding plans across our region.

The selected communities were chosen because they are similar in size (under 20,000 residents) and have two of these existing assets - a grocery store that sells fresh meats and produce, a library, and a health care clinic.

The selected communities are: Brownsville, Halsey, Harrisburg, Lebanon, Mill City/Lyons, Scio, and Sweet Home (Linn County); Alsea, Monroe, and Philomath (Benton County); Depoe Bay, Lincoln City, Newport, Siletz, Toledo, and Waldport (Lincoln County).

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What is Asset Mapping?

Asset Mapping, or the process of creating a map of community assets, is a handson experience that centers the participants’ experiences and opinions. Over-sized aerial maps of a community are the canvas for community members to share their perspectives on their community and its resources. We hope to learn more about the community that we can’t learn from just looking at a map ourselves.

Asset mapping is unique and valuable because it is strength-focused. We want to know about the places in a community that are valuable to families. To collect this information, we provide stickers with icons of various types of assets and participants are asked to place the stickers on the map to note the physical location. We also ask participants to write the name of the asset and any comments they have, positive or negative or neutral. If an asset doesn’t exist in their town, we ask for stickers to be placed on the edge of the map, indicating that families must go outside their town for that asset.

After placing their stickers on the map, each participant is given a one-page survey that asks about other aspects of their community, like internet access, banking availability, and laundry facilities. We also ask what makes their community unique, what concerns they have, and what they love about their community. The survey questions are open and have space for answers in their own words.

Pollywog’s Asset Mapping Project is funded through Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Equity Grant Program, which seeks to eliminate health inequities by 2030. Our work is funded by the Acute and Communicable Disease division, where we hope our gathered data can contribute to greater access to health care in rural communities. To that end, we have been tasked with collecting information about these additional community assets: Annual Exam Providers, Emergency Health Care, Sexual Health & Testing, and Vaccine Providers.

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Harrisburg, Oregon Harrisburg, located in the southwest corner of Linn County, is home to 3,683 residents (as of 2022).

Harrisburg was settled in the mid-1880s by European pioneers who were drawn to the area’s fertile land and ideal location along the Willamette River. Before European settlers arrived, the land that is now Harrisburg was inhabited by the Kalapuya people, who thrived on the abundant resources provided by the nearby rivers and forests.

The city was incorporated in 1866 and has experienced gradual growth and development, maintaining its small-town charm and strong sense of community.

Harrisburg’s biggest community event is their annual Old Fashioned Fourth of July Celebration, which includes a parade, car show, music, and a fireworks display.

Information from Harrisburg’s city website: https://www.ci.harrisburg.or.us/ and Visit Oregon: https://www.visitoregon.com/cities/harrisburg-oregon) Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians

State of Oregon

Harrisburg

Harrisburg Elementary School Harrisburg Elementary School hosted the Harrisburg Asset Mapping session, in conjunction with their Community BBQ. We are very grateful to the school and staff, especially principal Darcey Edwards who welcomed our asset mapping project on a busy evening. We also appreciate the families of Harrisburg Elementary who shared their valuable community insight with this project.

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Community Strengths What do you love about Harrisburg? What makes Harrisburg unique?

Community Concerns What concerns do you have about Harrisburg?

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Community Strengths and Concerns The city of Harrisburg takes pride in their family-oriented and safe community.

Harrisburg’s rural location promotes a small-town feeling and closeness among neighbors who care for each other. Mapping participants expressed how they value the local schools and school staff, and enjoy school activities and sports as a way to connect with their neighbors. Harrisburg is known for their Old Fashioned July 4th Celebration, farming traditions, and historic homes.

However, many asset mapping participants say their community needs essential services, including a full-service grocery store, a medical clinic, and child care/preschool options. There was also concern expressed about the lack of public transportation options and local policing.

Harrisburg has two options for groceries. Grocery Deals is a discount and liquidation store that often sells excess stock from manufacturers that is sometimes out of date for use, although still considered safe to eat. Dollar General sells some food items but mostly stocks nonfood household items, beauty products, and seasonal items.

The closest traditional grocery store is in Junction City, about 4 miles away. This type of store sells a wide line of groceries, including meats, dairy, and produce, sometimes at higher prices than discount options.

No public transportation options serve Harrisburg. Public transportation options are vital to residents who do not have access to a vehicle, often due to income or disability. Harrisburg’s Transportation System Plan (TSP) states 2% of residents (70+ residents as of 2022) do not have access to a vehicle and 54% are lowincome. A 2024 update to the TSP examines five ways to bring public transit to Harrisburg. Each requires exploration, funding, and operational partners to launch.

“When hard times fall on someone unexpectedly, the community really comes together.”

--Harrisburg Mapping Participant

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Opportunities for Learning in Harrisburg

The Harrisburg community members who participated in our asset mapping session overwhelmingly expressed love and appreciation for their local schools and school staff members. Many pointed to the small class sizes and connections with community members at school activities as important aspects to opportunities for learning in Harrisburg.

One participant said the music programs in the schools helped to make them great, and another mentioned their enjoyment in seeing school teachers in the community is a positive experience. The Harrisburg Elementary School was marked with three Place of Belonging stickers and eight Place of Learning stickers.

Although sentiment for Harrisburg’s schools was mostly positive, some participants expressed concerns about the middle and high schools in Harrisburg. One participant stated a need for higher level classes at the high school and another said there are no after school activities for middle schoolers in the community. And three participants noted a concern about for safety crosswalks for children on their way to and from school.

Two participants marked the Harrisburg Public Library as a Place of Importance.

According to town newsletters, the library hosts multiple programs for residents of all ages each month.

(Mural at the Harrisburg Public Library)

Limited options for early childhood education and child care is another area where participants voiced their concern. Almost half commented about a lack of preschools and child care, and others noted a lack of before/after school care and programs like a YMCA would offer.

One preschool option is the Harrisburg Head Start, operated by Kids & Company. Their well-established classroom, located in an affordable housing complex, has 17 slots each school year. The teachers typically are Harrisburg residents and deeply connected to and appreciated by the community, like teachers at the public schools.

Of the preschool/child care services mapped, half were within Harrisburg (Kidco Head Start and Jumping for Joy Preschool) and half were for sites outside of Harrisburg, including Eugene and Corvallis.

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Health and Wellness in Harrisburg Like many of our rural communities, Harrisburg does not have any local facilities for their health care needs, from routine care to emergency care and everything in between. All families participating in the mapping session noted that they must travel outside of Harrisburg to access health care services, either south to Junction City or Eugene or north to Albany or Corvallis. This can be a frustrating problem, especially for those who don’t have access to their own vehicle.

The nearest medical clinic is in Junction City, about five miles south of Harrisburg.

There is also a community clinic in Monroe, about 10 miles to the west. It is important to note that these clinics are in different counties than Harrisburg (Junction City is in Lane County, Monroe is in Benton County). Coverage with certain health care plans can be limited to county of residence.

When seeking dental care, Harrisburg residents have one dental clinic in town. But only one mapping participant marked this local clinic, all others designated dental clinics out of the community. These locations include Eugene, Corvallis, and Junction City.

Other Health Care Needs The percentages shown below demonstrate the services that residents seek outside of Harrisburg. (Note: Not all participants used every sticker category; these results are based on mapped assets.)

Behavioral Health: 80%

Vaccine Provider: 100%

Annual Exam Provider: 100%

Emergency Health Care: 100%

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Sexual Health and Testing: 100%

Survey Questions Do you have reliable internet service that supports video? If your home doesn’t have cell coverage, do you have a landline?

All participants stated they have reliable Internet service, half said they do not have landline service.

Do you use a bank/credit union, a check cashing service, or both?

All participants use a bank and/or credit union, none use a check cashing service.

If you use government services (Social Security, DHS, DMV, etc.) how and where do you access them?

About 30% of participants go to Junction City or Eugene for these services, about 20% go to Albany or Salem and about 20% access these services online.

Where do you do laundry, at your home or elsewhere? Is the laundry facility accessible? Is the laundry facility affordable?

100% of participants do laundry at home.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

Other areas of concern shared by participants are community road conditions, a need for crosswalks near schools, parks need to be updated, lack of local medical care, and no public transportation available.

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Overview of Community Assets in Harrisburg

The size of Harrisburg, approximately one mile by two miles, is an advantage to building a close-knit community but also a disadvantage for securing essential resources.

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Community Data All data are from the 2017-2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, except for data about Harrisburg’s school district, which is from the Oregon Department of Education.

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Pollywog was developed in 2017 to align health care, parenting education, and early childhood services for children and their families in Oregon’s Linn, Benton, and Lincoln counties.

As a program of the Early Learning Hub of Linn, Benton & Lincoln Counties, families trust Pollywog to connect them with the resources and services they need, including communitybased organizations, medical services, and early childhood education and care. We also work closely with the Parenting Success Network, our local parenting education collaborative.

/PollywogFamily /thePollywogFamily @PollywogFamily

Pollywog is located at Linn-Benton Comm. College 6500 Pacific Blvd. SW Luckiamute Building, LM-132 Albany, OR 97321 541-917-4884 pollywog@linnbenton.edu

This project is made possible with support from Early Learning Hub staff. In addition, the following Hub staff contributed to this report: Connie Adams -- Design and Text Jinguang Lin -- Data Analysis and Data Visuals Carmen Santacruz -- Spanish Translation

Asset Mapping Project Updates Follow the progress of our project as we hold asset mapping sessions throughout the Linn/Benton/Lincoln region. We invite you to join an asset mapping session in your town to share your opinions and experiences as a participant. You can find upcoming session locations and dates, reports from past sessions, and pictures of maps and sessions on the Pollywog website and the EL Hub website.

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